Zhao Guozhong checks cotton seeds in a warehouse at Nanfan breeding base in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 28, 2021. Zhao Guozhong, who has spent 43 Spring Festivals at Nanfan breeding base as an expert on cotton breeding, started every morning of his days in Sanya by dashing to the field to pollinate cotton plants and to observe their growth under the scorching sun. Photo:Xinhua

China launched a nationwide inspection on the seed market as the spring plowing period comes, the nation's agricultural authority announced recently - a move that aims to ensure seed security.

As the weather warms up, most regions of China are entering the spring plowing season. The campaign will crack down on illegal market behavior including selling counterfeited and inferior seeds, to ensure the order of the seed supply, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice. 

The notice said that inspections in southern China will mainly focus on seeds' quality, while inspections of imported seeds will take place in Beijing, Shanghai and East China's Shandong Province.

Seeds are the foundation of the modernization of the agricultural sector. China's "No. 1 document" for 2021 from the central government detailed plans on promoting the country's agricultural sector, including the management of the seed market, for which it specifically emphasized the importance of seed breeding and intellectual property protection.

Zhang Taolin, vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said recently that seed security in China is guaranteed, while the risks are controllable. 

China will try to break "bottlenecks" in major areas, which will include optimizing the market environment of the seed industry, and strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, analysts said.